


Sundays

by WellSchitt



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Coming Out, M/M, Queer Identity Issues, Religious Discussion, and David helping Patrick with those issues, because that’s my jam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:49:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21615610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WellSchitt/pseuds/WellSchitt
Summary: Back in the car, David thinks again about Patrick from before Schitt’s Creek, Patrick as his mother sees him. “You never told me you’re a…” He clears his throat. They’ve never talked about religion before. “You never told me you used to go to church, before you moved here.”Patrick shrugs. “I went most Sundays, I guess. My dad is a deacon.”
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 27
Kudos: 318





	Sundays

**Author's Note:**

> Extremely self-indulgent fic based on how my hardcore atheist wife helped me when I first came out <3
> 
> Alternately: weird short fic about religion and queerness written at 2 in the morning.

“Are you there? Patrick? I’ve got you on speakerphone while I finish this casserole. Sweetheart? Can you hear me?”

David smirks as Patrick winces away from the phone. His mother is shouting loudly enough that David can hear her quite clearly from the driver’s seat. “I can hear you, Mom. You could, uh, be a little quieter, even.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie! I’ll be quieter!” she says at the exact same volume. “Your dad and I were just wondering if you got our package.”

“Yeah, yes, thanks. You didn’t have to do that, I could have bought some new gloves. But, uh. Thank you.” Patrick scratches at his jeans with his free hand. “And thank you for the cookies.”

“You’re welcome,” she replies, the warmth in her voice obvious over the clanking sound of something being whisked. There’s an awkward pause before Mrs. Brewer continues, “So, how’re things? Are you making any new friends, besides Ray and your business partner?”

Their first date was only two weeks ago. David squeezes Patrick’s knee quickly, hoping it conveys the right message: it’s fine that he hasn’t told them yet.

“David. His name is David, my business partner.” Patrick gives David a small smile. “And yeah, he’s introduced me around a little. Plus Ray told me about a baseball league I might join.”

“Well that’s good! That’s wonderful.” She sounds relieved, and David can’t help but wonder what Patrick was like before, to make her worry about him making friends in Schitt’s Creek. “Oh, your father’s asking—hush, Clint, I’m trying to ask him—your dad wants to know if you’ve found a church out there yet, now that you’ve settled in and gotten the store up and running?”

“Uh. No, not yet.” Patrick glances at David, then away again quickly. “I, uh, keep meaning to look. But things are pretty busy at the store on Sundays. Most people shop on the weekends, so…”

“Of course,” Mrs. Brewer says quickly, placatingly. “And a new business like that, we know you must be very busy.” There’s another awkward pause. “Well, they sure do miss you at Grace Community on Sundays—Eloise is trying, poor dear, but you’re just _so_ talented on the guitar, it’s really not the same. Sandra cornered me after the service last week to ask when you’ll be… not that we’re expecting- well, anywho, that’s neither here nor there. She’s been stressed out since her husband had his operation, poor man, and her son is no help at all.”

From there it’s a stream of gossip about people David’s never heard of. One of Patrick’s cousin’s is dating someone she met online—Mrs. Brewer evidently finds this _very _concerning—and a neighbor is pregnant again—Mrs. Brewer can’t imagine the chaos of having five children under the age of ten, she does not envy Samira one bit… but of course, babies are _always_ a blessing.

The casserole, it turns out, is for Samira. David smiles with the half of his mouth Patrick can’t see.

Patrick listens dutifully, making interested noises and asking questions at appropriate intervals, until they finally arrive at the vendor’s small farm just outside of Elmdale.

“Sorry about that,” he says when he finally hangs up. “Once she’s got me on the phone, she’s not letting me go for at least half an hour.”

“I don't mind,” David replies truthfully, gathering his scarf and hat from the back seat for their tour of the frosty pastures and barn.

—

Patrick drives on the way back; David is frankly exhausted from dealing with their extremely energetic, extremely talkative wool supplier. The tour had taken twice as long as it should have, and had included a wholly unnecessary tutorial on all the various sheep’s names, ages, histories, and dispositions.

Back in the car, David thinks again about Patrick from before Schitt’s Creek, Patrick as his mother sees him. “You never told me you’re a…” He clears his throat. They’ve never talked about religion before. “You never told me you used to go to church, before you moved here.”

Patrick shrugs. “I went most Sundays, I guess. My dad is a deacon.”

“Was it- was that part of the reason you were in the closet, or… sorry, I know you weren’t exactly in the- what I mean is-”

Mercifully, Patrick interrupts him. “No--or at least, I don’t think so? It’s not a hateful place.” Patrick frowns. “The minister never really talked about, uh, homosexuality, actually, apart from saying that we should love everyone. That Jesus loves everyone, even sinners. Stuff like that.”

“Ok.” David clenches his hand at _sinners_, at Patrick being taught to think of queer people that way. “So you went because your parents went? Or are you actually, um, religious?”

“Would it bother you, if I am?”

“Nope,” David says honestly. “I mean, clearly I’m not, like, observant. But I used to go to synagogue. Sometimes.” There had been a beautiful one around the corner from his gallery in New York. David had gone after Adelina died, and a few times after that when he felt close to rock bottom. He had never found any answers there, but it was a beautiful place to think about his questions.

Brow furrowing, Patrick shrugs again. “It feels like kind of a moot point, now.” David’s about to ask what he means by that when Patrick hits the turn signal and changes lanes. “Want a coffee or anything? I need some tea.”

—

David discovers that night that churches have Yelp reviews. It seems vaguely sacrilegious to him as he scrolls through comments about how Sunshine Baptist Church doesn’t have enough parking and the sanctuary at Second First Church of Elm Valley is always too warm in the summer. It’s actually difficult to find information about doctrinal issues amidst the prosaic complaints about uncomfortable pews and mean Sunday School teachers, but after a little googling, David comes up with a list of four churches in easy driving distance.

—

“I don’t understand,” Patrick says, staring at the list.

“You told your mother you were going to look. And I can handle the store by myself for a couple of hours on Sunday mornings, if you actually want to check them out.”

“Yeah, but David, I’m, uh, I’m 99% sure that I'm gay. So most churches won’t-”

“Ok, that’s why I picked _these _churches, though. Like, that one? The minister is a lesbian.” Based on her biography on the church’s website, she’s a pretty kick-ass lesbian, too, active in local protests for First Nations’ rights and green policy changes. David put her church first on the list. “And this one is further away, in Elm Valley, but it has something called a 'queer fellowship' on Thursdays.” The store is closed on Thursdays. If Patrick doesn’t want to be away Sunday mornings, maybe he could at least go to that.

Patrick continues staring down at the list. David can’t see his face.

“Look, obviously I don’t care. Like, _at all_, apart from wanting you to be happy. But if you do want to go…” He frowns, trying to put it into words. “You don’t have to lose that part of yourself, just because you realized you’re gay. You can have both. If you want.”

“Thank you, David,” Patrick says, quiet and sincere. He stands and wraps his arms around him. “I’ll have to think about it, but… thanks for doing this.”

“You’re welcome.” David hugs back, hard. “It’s a ploy to get on your mother’s good side.”

**Author's Note:**

> In addition to being inspired by my lovely wife, I was also thinking about why Patrick was so afraid to come out to his parents. Something like this might be one explanation, although it's probably not the direction the show would take.
> 
> Second First Church is a nod to Rizwan Manji’s new show, except this one is in Elm Valley.


End file.
